St. Paul Pioneer Press tech blog by Julio Ojeda-Zapata

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St. Paul Pioneer Press tech blog by Julio Ojeda-Zapata

Findings of a public-library e-book study reflected here

Two months after the St. Paul Public Library began offering e-books for checkout in April 2011, it had logged about 2,000 such loans.

During that same April-to-June period this year, the city library network registered 20,000 e-book loans.

Wow.

And while e-book lending still represents only a small percentage of book lending at the St. Paul Public Library, its quick rise in popularity is notable at a time when the lending of physical books in the city’s library system is gradually on the decline.

I gave John Larson, the St. Paul Public Library’s digital-library manager, an advance peek at the study with Pew’s permission, and he said it matches much of what is happening here.

“As I was reading it, I was thinking I could have written this report,” Larson said. “It sounds a lot like what is going on at the St. Paul Public Library.”

Among the findings in the Pew report, “Libraries, patrons and e-books”:

— Only about 12 percent of Americans ages 16 and older who have read e-books say they have borrowed e-books from a library in the past year.

— At the same time, 62 percent of Americans quizzed by Pew researchers remain unaware that e-book lending by their public libraries is an option.

— Even a majority of library patrons, along with users of iPad-style tablets and Kindle-style e-book readers, are ill-informed about such an offering.

Such findings are surprising, Pew researchers said, since 58 percent of those ages 16 and older have a library card, and 69 percent insist that the library is important to them and to their families.

On the other hand, the Pew study says, those who are regular borrowers of library e-books tend to be heavy readers who also buy such volumes. In fact, they read more heavily than those who don’t borrow e-books.

That matches what Larson is seeing at the St. Paul Public Library.

Those who borrow e-books “are power users who read a lot, electronically and in print,” he said. “They check out a lot of books and buy a lot of books. They just want to read, and do not care if it’s electronic or print.”

This is all particularly relevant in St. Paul, as I have repeatedly reported on this blog and in the Pioneer Press (see this and this), since the city’s library system is a national trend-setter in this space. In addition to using OverDrive, the best-known distributor of e-books to libraries, it recently signed up with another such distribution system created in Minnesota by 3M.

The 3M service, called Cloud Library, is making news this week. The Glendale and Pasadena public-library systems in California are rolling out this service. At the New York Public Library,

Penguin and 3M have sealed a deal to make the publisher’s books available starting in August.

In St. Paul, lending of 3M Cloud Library e-books via smartphone and tablet apps is going well, Larson said, but the public library has run into a few glitches with e-book readers it purchased from 3M for lending to patrons who don’t have their own devices.

Patrons “have been patient with some of the learning we’re going through,” Larson said. “They understand that it is early days for this sort of thing.”

Those who borrow e-books at the St. Paul Public Library regularly complain about certain titles not being available for borrowing in this format, which is a byproduct of tension between library systems and book publishers.

Major publishers like MacMillan, Simon & Schuster and Hachette don’t allow their books to be lent out by libraries. Penguin severed its ties with OverDrive, which meant public libraries lost access to new titles but could keep lending out previously purchased e-books, Larson noted.

Average library patrons have difficulty accepting that some publishers don’t do business with libraries, Larson said, or that publishers that do allows library lending of their titles will typically impose severe restrictions on such activity.

“We wish more publishers would sell e-books to libraries,” Larson lamented. “We are some of publishers’ best customers, and our customers want those books. We are hopeful that (those not working with libraries) will figure out ways to protect their interests while making their stuff available.”

The Pew study notes that “e-book borrowers appreciate the selection of e-books at their local library, but they often encounter wait lists, unavailable titles, or incompatible file formats.”

It asked those who borrowed e-books whether they had experienced several of the difficulties that could be associated with such borrowing, and found that:

— 56 percent of e-book borrowers from libraries say that at one point or another they had tried to borrow a particular book and found that the library did not carry it.

— 52 percent of e-book borrowers say that at one point or another they discovered there was a waiting list to borrow the book.

— 18 percent of e-book borrowers say that at one point or another they found an e-book they were interested in was not compatible with the e-reading device they were using.

The study is jammed with additional data about libraries, patrons and e-books. Download it here.

Here’s Pew’s press release:

Libraries, patrons, and e-books:

12% of e-book readers have borrowed an e-book from their library

Washington (June 22, 2012) – Some 12% of Americans ages 16 and older who read e-books say they have borrowed an e-book from a library in the past year.

But most in the broader public, not just e-book readers, are generally not aware they can borrow e-books from libraries, even though three-quarters of the nation’s public libraries offer the service.

We asked all those ages 16 and older if they know whether they can borrow e-books from their library and 62% said they did not know if their library offered e-book lending. Some 22% say they know that their library does lend out e-books, and 14% say they know their library does not lend out e-books.

Many of those who presumably have an interest in knowing about the availability of free library loans of e-books are not sure about the situation at their local library. According to a nationally-representative poll by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project:

58% of all library card holders say they do not know if their library provides e-book lending services.

53% of all tablet computer owners say they do not know if their library lends e-books.

48% of all owners of e-book reading devices such as original Kindles and NOOKs say they do not know if their library lends e-books.

47% of all those who read an e-book in the past year say they do not know if their library lends e-books.

“It was a genuine surprise to see these data, especially after all of the attention that has been paid to the tension between libraries and major book publishers about whether many of the most popular books should be available for lending by libraries,” noted Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet Project. “E-book borrowing is gaining a foothold in the library world and will likely grow much more in the future as more people become aware of it. That might add more pressure to the situation – or prompt the parties to come up with a solution.”

In the survey, e-book borrowers were asked about the selection of e-books through their library: 32% of e-book borrowers say the selection at their library is “good,” 18% say it is “very good,” and 16% say it is “excellent.” Some 23% say the selection is only “fair,” 4% say it is “poor,” and 8% say they don’t know.

Many of those borrowers reported at least occasional difficulties:

56% of e-book borrowers from libraries say that at one point or another they had tried to borrow a particular book and found that the library did not carry it.

52% of e-book borrowers say that at one point or another they discovered there was a waiting list to borrow the book.

18% of e-book borrowers say that at one point or another they found that an e-book they were interested in was not compatible with the e-reading device they were using.

We also asked all those who do not already borrow e-books at the public library how likely it would be that they might avail themselves of certain resources if their library were to offer them.

The results:

46% of those who do not currently borrow e-books from libraries say they would be “very” or “somewhat” likely to borrow an e-reading device that came loaded with a book they wanted to read.

32% of those who do not currently borrow e-books say they would be “very” or “somewhat” likely to take a library class on how to download e-books onto handheld devices.

32% of those who do not currently borrow e-books say they would be “very” or “somewhat” likely to take a course at a library in how to use an e-reader or tablet computer.

“Many libraries have become technology hubs in their communities and these findings suggest how libraries might be able to build on that in two ways,” said Kathryn Zickuhr, a Research Specialist at the Pew Internet Project. “First, these data show that public education campaigns might add to the numbers of those who are aware that e-books can be borrowed and enjoyed on new technology like tablet computers and e-book reading devices. Second, the data show that a share of patrons would appreciate being helped in their quest to master new devices and load e-books onto them.”

The Pew Internet Project survey found that 58% of those ages 16 and older have a library card, and 69% report that the library is important to them and their family.

The survey findings also highlighted the fact that e-book borrowers are heavy readers who also buy books. E-book borrowers say they read an average (the mean number) of 29 books in the past year in all formats (e-book, printed book, audiobook) and books that were borrowed or bought.

That compares with 23 books for readers who do not borrow e-books from a library. Perhaps more striking, the median (midpoint) figures for books reportedly read are 20 in the past year by e-book borrowers and 12 by non-borrowers.

Asked about the most recent book they had read, 41% of those who borrow e-books from libraries purchased the most recent e-book.

We also asked book readers about their general preferences when it came to getting books. Fully 55% of the e-book readers who also had library cards said they preferred to buy their e-books and 36% said they preferred to borrow them from any source – friends or libraries. Some 46% of library card holders said they prefer to purchase print books they want to read and 45% said they preferred to borrow print books.

When it comes to e-book borrowers, 33% say they generally prefer to buy e-books and 57% say they generally prefer to borrow them.

The phone survey reported here was conducted among 2,986 Americans ages 16 and older from November 16-December 21, 2011. The overall survey has a margin of error of two percentage points.